In the Reign of Cotton Mather

bq.. This country’s laws are being rewritten by puritans, prigs and busybodies.

Earlier this year, when Major League Baseball questioned Congress’ right to hold public hearings on steroid use in the big leagues, Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis (R-Va.) and ranking minority member Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) sent back a striking response. Davis and Waxman told baseball that the committee “may at any time conduct investigations of any matter.”

Any time. Any matter. And this from the congressional committee charged with curbing government excesses.

But “any time, any matter” jurisdiction is fast becoming the norm in Washington. Think Terry Schiavo and gay marriage. Think obesity, the “crisis” that has Congress poking around in your kid’s lunchbox and in your refrigerator. Think the drug war, which gives cops access to our medicine cabinets, doctors’ offices and hospices.

If you think the feds are bad, state governments are even worse. The Nanny State is descending, from 50 capitals.